Finally a Pom Pom Crab!!!

Puff · #1 03-23-2008, 11:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Megs

his pom pom wont 'grow back' unfortunatly, they are actually small anenomies that the crab hangs on to, but the crab dosent treat them very well (dragges them around and never feeds them) so in the wild they switch them out for new ones occasionaly. he may have just dropped it or it may have died, and i dont think that you can buy new ones, although in a tank with no predators they will be fine without them.

they actually split the single anenome if they lose one of them. they are also known to pic up small rics and zoas as temporary replacements while they wait for their anenome to grow large enough to split.

they dont mistreat them. they drag them along the substrate to gather food. the anenome gets some, and the crab gets some. the type of anenome they carry doesnt require a lot of light, but the little crabs are mostly nocturnal, so the anenome sometimes gets plenty of light, and other times doesnt get enough, in which case it dies.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ElGuappo

Ive seen them for anywhere between 20 and 40 bucks.

i paid $9.95 for mine at J&L Aquatics.

fishoholic · #2 03-25-2008, 06:45 PM

We have one in our 230g he has both his pom-poms and I catch a glance of him about every 2-3 weeks

NateL · #3 03-25-2008, 07:14 PM

Our "boxer" crab Chuck(named after Liddel) is a master at hiding. Its been two months since he was last spotted in our 72. Cool critters, next time into a smaller tank for sure.

Puff · #4 03-25-2008, 09:34 PM

i actually saw him the other night! upside down on the top rock in the aquascape. he saw me, the ran like hell for cover. i never realized how fast they were!

KennyKen · #5 03-25-2008, 10:12 PM

yaaaa i got one today too from Ocean.
Cute little gaffer

ElGuappo · #6 03-26-2008, 01:39 AM

Could the anemone survive on its own? this morning i saw a little anem thought it was aptasia but it really didnt look like it, Had to run out the door to work so i couldnt get a pic. the pompom lost its anem about 6 weeks ago.

justinl · #7 03-26-2008, 06:56 AM

No, the pom pom anemone is completely dependent on the crab and it will die without the crab. The crab can live fine without the nem though. You might consider getting another pom pom crab though. If one crab loses both anemones, the other sometimes donates one if it has two.

here's a good thread from nano-reef.com on these guys.

http://www.nano-reef.com/forums/inde...l+pom+pom+crab